Feeding the Habit? Relationships Between Longitudinal Patterns of Drug Dealing and Drug use Trajectories During Adolescence Among Juvenile Offenders

Drug dealers may be at increased risk for drug use. However, there is a dearth of research focused on how these relationships develop across time. Group-based trajectory modeling (GBTM) was used to assess heterogeneity in the development of drug dealing behavior. Line graphs modeling the average frequency of use of drugs across time based on trajectory membership described drug use patterns. T-tests were used to test for significant differences between drug use patterns. Results indicated that a four-group model of drug dealing best fit the data. Changes in each type of drug use corresponded strongly with changes in drug dealing behaviors.

Medication adherence in migraine patients (data of an online survey)

Patient needs, drug intake patterns, and adherence to therapy are significant challenges in the management of migraine patients.Objective: to identify drug treatment needs, drug use patterns and adherence factors in migraine patients.Patients and methods. An online survey was conducted among Internet users through social networks (Instagram, Facebook, Vkontakte) from 01/22/2020 to 02/22/2020. The selection of respondents was based on an anamnesis of headaches and passing the ID Migraine screener. One thousand five hundred ninety-eight individuals (93.8% women and 6.2% men) aged 18—39years participated in the survey.Results and discussion. Among 1598 participants, 1490 experienced any headache, 937 respondents noted migraine symptoms, and 542 (58.4%) had a migraine diagnosis. 899 (96%) of responders used medications to relieve headaches, and in 59% of them drugs were self-prescribed. 125 (13%) patients received prophylactic therapy for migraine, of which only 47 (37.6%) complied with the prescribed treatment. We found a significant (p=0.019) association between the degree of adherence to therapy and the number of days with migraine.Conclusion. The study revealed a low referral rate in patients with headaches. In addition, more than half self-prescribed the drug for headache relief, and only a third of patients complied with the prescribed prophylactic treatment.

20 years of Portuguese drug policy - developments, challenges and the quest for human rights

Portugal decriminalized the public and private use, acquisition, and possession of all drugs in 2000; adopting an approach focused on public health rather than public-order priorities. Arguing that the Portuguese Drug Policy Model has not proven influential enough to emancipate drug use from the stigma that associates it either with crime or pathology, this article critically discusses the developments and current challenges the Portuguese drug policy confronts, namely the growing diversity of drug use patterns observed in Portugal as well as in Europe. To this end, international and national legal instruments concerning drugs and official local data were analysed. Despite encouraging results, conclusions indicate that these policies are marked by contradictions and ambiguities that have permeated its history since the very beginning, and modest ambitions, particularly regarding the implementation of harm reduction measures. Moreover, the polemical Supreme Court judgment that reestablished, in 2008, drug use as a crime when the quantities at play exceeded those required for an average individual’s use for 10 days, might have impacted the landscape of drug use penalization. The last decade saw an increase of punitiveness targeted at drug users, including criminal sentences of jail terms. We finish with some suggestions that could be employed in the practical application of drug policy.

COVID-19 Pandemic Impact on Substance Misuse: A Social Media Listening, Mixed Method Analysis

The restrictive measures adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic modified some previously consolidated drug use patterns. A focus on social networks allowed drug users to discuss, share opinions and provide advice during a worldwide emergency context. In order to explore COVID-19-related implications on drug trends/behaviour and on most popular psychotropic substances debated, the focus here was on the constantly updated, very popular, Reddit social platform’s posts and comments. A quantitative and qualitative analysis of r/Drugs and related subreddits, using a social media listening netnographic approach, was carried out. The post/comments analysed covered the time-frame December 2019–May 2020. Between December 2019 and May 2020, the number of whole r/Drugs subreddit members increased from 619,563 to 676,581 members, respectively, thus increasing by 9.2% by the end of the data collection. Both the top-level r/Drugs subreddit and 92 related subreddits were quantitatively analysed, with posts/comments related to 12 drug categories. The drugs most frequently commented on included cannabinoids, psychedelics, opiates/opioids, alcohol, stimulants and prescribed medications. The qualitative analysis was carried out focussing on four subreddits, relating to some 1685 posts and 3263 comments. Four main themes of discussion (e.g., lockdown-associated immunity and drug intake issues; drug-related behaviour/after-quarantine plans’ issues; lockdown-related psychopathological issues; and peer-to-peer advice at the time of COVID-19) and four categories of Redditors (e.g., those continuing the use of drugs despite the pandemic; the “couch epidemiologists”; the conspirationists/pseudo-science influencers; and the recovery-focused users) were tentatively identified here. A mixed-methods, social network-based analysis provided a range of valuable information on Redditors’ drug use/behaviour during the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. Further studies should be carried out focusing on other social networks as well as later phases of the pandemic.

Illicit Drug Use and Associated Problems in the Nightlife Scene: A Potential Setting for Prevention

Illicit drug use is prevalent in the nightlife scene, especially at electronic dance music (EDM) events. The aim of the present study was to investigate illicit drug use patterns and consequences of drug use among frequent visitors of EDM events. Young adults (18–34 years old) who had visited at least six EDM events in Sweden during the past year participated in a web-based survey on drug use patterns and its consequences. Fifty-nine percent of participants had used illicit drugs during the past year, most often cannabis followed by ecstasy, cocaine, and amphetamine. Nightlife venues were identified as the main setting for the use of central stimulants, while cannabis was mostly used at home. Frequent alcohol and tobacco use was associated with illicit drug use. The most prevalent negative consequences of drug use were related to mental health, such as impairments in mood, sleep, and memory problems, but physical manifestations were also reported, such as palpitations and collapsing. These findings confirm that drug use is prevalent and associated with negative health effects among EDM nightlife attendees. The nightlife scene is a setting with promising potential to reach a high-risk target group with illicit drug use prevention interventions.

Evaluation of Drug Prescription Pattern using World Health Organisation Prescribing Indicators in a Tertiary Care Hospital, Bangalore

Aim of the study: To monitor the drug use patterns by using WHO prescribing indicators in a tertiary care hospital and to minimise the irrational prescribing practices by the prescribers. To monitor the drug use patterns by using WHO prescribing indicators in a tertiary care hospital and to minimise the irrational prescribing practices by the prescribers. Materials and Methods: This is a prospective observational study, the patients who were satisfying the inclusion criteria will be enrolled into the study. The patient’s data were collected in specially designed documentation form. The collected data’s were assessed using descriptive statistics. Results: The study was conducted in 143 patients in which the average number of drugs per encounters was 3.5 and the percentage of drugs in the generic name was 37.10% (n=190), and in brand names were 62.89% (n=322). The number of encounters with antibiotics was 61.5% and where as 57.35% of the total drugs prescribed was injections. Most of the medicines prescribed were included in the list of essential medicines of India that is 96.09% and without use of antibiotics 38.46% (n=55). Conclusion: Poly pharmacy leads to drug chances of interactions and risk of ADRs and revealed that most of the patients were prescribed with the poly pharmacy and in brand names. The use of antibiotics was much more in the study, which should be minimize so that antimicrobial resistance can be minimized. Keywords: adverse drug reaction, essential drug list, prescribing indicators

Changes in Drug Use Patterns during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Italy: Monitoring a Vulnerable Group by Hair Analysis

From 22 March until 18 May 2020, a complete lockdown in Italy was ordered as a countermeasure against the COVID-19 pandemic. Social isolation measures affect some populations more than others, and people with drug and/or alcohol disorders (SUDs) are more likely to be adversely affected. This study presents, for the first time, laboratory data on the use of alcohol and drugs in a high-risk population during Italy’s first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Thirty subjects with SUDs were monitored for the use of illicit drugs and alcohol every 3 months before, during and after the lockdown, by hair analysis. The number of samples positive for heroin, cocaine, MDMA and cannabis fell considerably during the lockdown and then resumed to pre-lockdown levels when the period of confinement was over. Interestingly, the consumption of benzodiazepines and alcohol followed the opposite trend; both the number of benzodiazepine-positive samples and the level of alcohol consumption increased and remained high, even at the end of the lockdown. The confinement measures produced significant changes in drug/alcohol use patterns, with a shift toward the use of substances that were more easily accessible, used as self-medication for negative feelings, and used to alleviate the effects of abstinence from drugs that were no longer readily available.

The cocaine-e-cigarette – A theoretical concept of a harm reduction device for current users of smokable cocaine forms

Although there are great regional differences, smokable forms of cocaine (crack, free-base, paco, etc.) are a drug complex associated with often harmful and problematic drug use patterns. While strategies based on drug prohibition did not eradicate the consumption of smokable cocaine forms, prohibition itself led to many harmful effects, such as criminalisation, stigmatisation, unpredictable smokable cocaine forms quality and hardly any safer-use education. While there are many positive insights from heroin-assisted treatment programs with regard to heroin users, there are no comparable programs for problematic users of smokable cocaine forms. Smokable cocaine forms are challenging due to their different pharmacology and particularly their short duration leading to often many administrations per day. In this manuscript a device for a heroin-assisted treatment-like program for problematic users of smokable cocaine forms is suggested. This device is a cocaine-e-cigarette which could be prescribed to problematic users of smokable cocaine forms to reduce the risk of lung damage, exclude potentially harmful adulterants, limit intake (by formulation and/or technical settings) and also to bring users of smokable cocaine forms into the medical system to address comorbidities and risk factors, for example cardiovascular conditions, insomnia, depression, etc. This manuscript describes basic functionality and general specifications of a cocaine-e-cigarette as a medical device treating people with respective cocaine use disorder when cessation and substitution are not considered an option.

Changes in Drug Use Patterns During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Italy: Monitoring a Vulnerable Group by Hair Analysis

Background From March 22 until May 18, 2020, a complete lockdown in Italy was ordered by the government as a drastic and unprecedented countermeasure against the COVID-19 pandemic. Social isolation measures affect some populations more than others, and people with mental and drug and/or alcohol disorders are more likely to be adversely affected by home confinement. The literature on substance use during the COVID-19 pandemic is still nascent, but past research on other large-scale disasters suggests a modification in drug use patterns. This study presents for the first time experimental laboratory data on the use of alcohol and drugs in a high-risk population during Italy's first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods Thirty subjects with substance use disorders were monitored for the use of traditional drugs and alcohol every 3 months before, during and after lockdown by the analysis of hair, a biological matrix that permits retrospective evaluations. Results There was a general decrease in the use of traditional drugs during the lockdown: the number of samples positive for heroin, cocaine, MDMA and cannabis fell considerably and then resumed to pre-lockdown levels when the period of confinement was over. Interestingly, the consumption of benzodiazepines and alcohol followed the opposite trend. The number of benzodiazepine-positive samples increased and remained high even at the end of the lockdown. Similarly, alcohol consumption underwent a significant increase during the period of confinement and remained high even after the lockdown restrictions were lifted. Conclusions Confinement measures produced significant changes in drug/alcohol use patterns with a shift towards the use of substances that are more easily accessible and used for the self-medication of stress, anxiety, irritability, depressive symptoms and insomnia. Furthermore, the combined use of alcohol and benzodiazepines can alleviate the negative effects of abstinence from drugs that are no longer easily available. It is concerning that the levels of alcohol and benzodiazepine consumption have remained high even after the lockdown. Mixing benzodiazepines and alcohol can result in a number of serious short-term and long-term effects, which inevitably place further pressure on drug addiction and health services during and after the pandemic.